Yardening August 2015

Funny little (yes!) story....

When I was very young, after a good rain that made puddles, I liked to
look into the puddles and see the reflection of the sky and clouds in there.

So pretty---but also so scary to me--as I thought that if i stepped into the puddle--
I would "fall" into heaven. ...and I would be gone...

Some of it may have had to do with the fact that our mother (who was widowed at 33)
(our father died very young)--would use "Him" to keep us in line.
She would always say that "Your Father is looking down--he can see you"....as a threat.

SO--Heaven was a place to fear--for me.....

g.

Why is that so "funny" ? You mean if you step in a puddle you won't actually fall into heaven?!

(Pssssst, Cam, yes you will, don't believe Gita, she's telling tales again) =)

You both crack me up!!!
Speedie has always done it--one of her great talents--

now--I have to put up with YOU, cam? Lead me to a nice big puddle...I'll jump!

Sequoia, here are pics of the Viburnum dentatum that was being defoliated until I dug it up and moved it to the other side of the yard in order to hide it from the insect pests : - )
Honestly, that's all I did. Whatever was eating it stayed in the boggy area of my yard and started eating Swamp Mallow instead.

I know where I want to plant this shrub, but first I have to dig up a Hydrangea 'Nikko Blue' that is about 4' x 4' x 4' and I know how hard that's going to be. SSG helped me dig up my last 'Nikko Blue', and it was smaller. If anyone wants a 'Nikko Blue', let me know. It hasn't bloomed for 2 years because we've had such cold winters, I think; it looks really healthy and it used to bloom really well.

That's right, Gita... I'm a bit of a jokester too. Consider yourself warned. ;)

Muddy, it's definitely possible that is viburnum leaf beetle damage. Check the undersides of the stems for the eggs laid in them. You will need to cut out all the infected stems/branches. I suppose a systemic insecticide would kill them too.


Image was from hort.cornell.edu.

Thanks, I'll take a closer look at it tomorrow.

Take samples of your plants and insects to professionals to analyze and diagnose the problem. Your tax dollars already pay for entomologists and plant pathologists to do this work at every county Cooperative Extensive Service office. Don't believe you can make such a determination on your own, or expect to suffer the consequences.

It would be a tragic circumstance to believe wrongly, one way or the other, that you have a pest problem that you are not qualified to determine. If you are wrong, you are wasting time/effort/resources battling it - or allowing a truly pernicious pest to continue to infest landscapes beyond your own.

To be fair, I am nothing more than a hobby gardener and not an entomologist. However, a lot can be discovered via the internet these days if you know what to look for. I just had a similar issue with two of my dentatums so I was familiar with the symptoms and wanted Muddy to look into it.

This message was edited Aug 27, 2015 8:01 AM

I forgot to look at the Viburnum; however, I noticed that something is really going after the Hibiscus moscheutos (Swamp rose-mallow) growing in the bog where the Viburnum dentatum formerly resided.

Oh wow Muddy, that is some damage there. Perhaps a trip to the local extension office is in order.

Yes, I think the plant on the right is a goner. I don't think I'll make a trek to the extension service office just for the Swamp Rose Mallows, but I found this guide on their site which mentions that sawflies like Hibiscus. It kind of looks like sawfly damage to me.

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/456/456-018/Section04-Home-Ornamentals.pdf

I reallt "yardened" yesterday--for hours and hours....Will continue today.

I am "attacking" the YUK bed. Planting some of the$2 perennials I bought,
Man! Ripping those roots out and amending the soil took me about 5-6 hours
in just this small area. This is an arms-reach away from the trunk of the big Maple.


1--Planted 2 B&B Salvias there, plus one white Cone Flower, and 2 Lantanas in the front.

2--in the process--I dug up a tray-full of bulbs from those clustered, fragrant
Daffs, that I have in this bed. These can be had at the Swap if anyone id interested.
I will divvy them up in baggies.

3--Fragrant, clustered daffs-

4--Today--I will be tackling the YUK bed corner. God help me!!!
Will remove the 3 clumps of Stellas & one struggling Liriope--
Dig up the area (!!!) and Will plant 2 new daff clumps (similar to Stellas) called "Snow Orchid".

Hope to have better soil in there afterwards. And--by next year--the roots
will be all back in there... Wish me luck...

G.

Hey I am all for removing Stella Doro day lilies and liroope anytime. BO- ring compared to the rest of your garden. I will be grabbing a bag of those daffs.

That's funny about the Liriope G and Sally 'cause I'm new to it and really enjoying it still. =) Funny how one (wo)man's trash is anothers treasure.

I'd like to claim a bag of those daffs too, please, and thank you. :)

Coleup claimed all the dug up Stellas....Good riddance!
I have 2 more smaller clumps left....still in the bed....anybody want more?

I will plant a couple of the "Snow Orchid DL" in their place.
I hope they look as nice as the pic. on the pot...a nice lavender bloom.

let me Google these......Looks like the 1st picture matches the color on the pot.

http://www.seasidedaylily.com/snoworchid.shtml

We still have some of these clearanced--$3. I think I will bring one for the gift table--
Anyway--it should look better than Stellas... not that they are bad--but in 3 years,
the clumps become so root-bound that they stop blooming. Just leaves...
That's all I need--more leaves in my beds.....YECH!

Here is the YUK bed corner I will be tackling...hate to even think about how to
get it to some level of plantable....
Today, all I did was dig out some plants and the Stellas from there--it was a bit warm--
my body needed a rest from yesterday.
The rest of the week will be hotter and hotter....in the 90's on Sunday.
Of course! it always is. That is the day I work....and water...and water....

Tomorrow AM--I am going to my daughter's house and digging up as many
Pink Evening Primroses as i can. You should see them! They are invasive!
They are growing all over her front bed...

Aina and Mark flew to Myrtle Beach to visit Dad and Susan. He is not doing
too well lately....They left Thursday--and will be back Monday. I'm playing Chauffeur..

g.

I have a few variegated Liriope Sally and they are just beginning to bloom. They look pretty nice. There are 4 and they are the only thing other than the blue spruce that we have left from when we moved into the house January 2010. You can talk smack though, I don't mind, they're still better than hostas ;-P

Sounds like a lot of work Gita, good thing you got it all done before it gets really hot. I'll find a home for those remaining Stella clumps if you are wanting to get rid of them.

Jeff--Nothing got "ALL DONE"! The hardest part is now trying to dig up the bed
so I can add some good stuff to it. How I wish I could garden w/o tearing roots
out of the soil every time I stick a shovel in it. Big roots--not just those hair-like feeder roots...
Besides--the soil is totally dry--no matter what I do to keep it moist.
Need a long, steady rain to soften it up a bit. makes digging easier....

OK! If you want them--I will dig up the other 2 clumps of Stellas. These will be smaller
clumps. They will need dividing--hope you have a sharp knife for garden use...

There are a lot of sprouting BES's in many places. I can dig some more up for you too.

Good luck, Gita!

I found the culprit responsible for defoliating my Swamp Mallow: Mallow Sawfly larvae. I picked about a dozen off the leaves today and dropped them in a container of water mixed with insecticidal soap. Even the worst looking plant has some green leaves left and new green leaf buds, so they might make it.

well, Jeff, I was pictureing green for Gita's, VAR Liriope, that's different. I have bunches of them in several places, and have shared a lot with ssg, too. I like them- the purple flowers in the variegated sprays are pretty. I use them as accents on edges and ends of some beds.
But Stella d'Oro, you can have, since I found the more sunny yellow 'Happy Returns', I don't care for slightly ornagey 'SdO'.

I dug and tossed the very struggling barely alive 'Camelot ' rose. yay!

Liriope are so easy, too, because they're tough!. I keep some around my pond because I have to be able to step right up to the edge sometimes, and it's easier if I don't have to worry about killing some plant by accidentally stepping on it.

What's going in the rose's place, Sally?

Okay okay Sally very well. I just though you were hating again ;-P So what is going in that rose's spot?

Glad you got the culprits Muddy. Those sawfly larvae are a wicked bunch.

Sounds good Gita. My neighbor will be taking most of them. He mentioned the other day that his wife really liked daylilies and I said I'd try to get some from the swap for them.

That pitiful rose was crammed between other things. One little stem. There isn't really a 'spot' left to put something else IN.

Sally, the variegated liriope I got from you is in bloom now. Such a pretty lavender flower! And they grow in the most inhospitable places, too. I like the combination of dark ajuga and variegated liriope.

Wow, Muddy, I can't believe how that mallow sawfly larvae completely skeletonized your swamp mallow. Maybe it'll still come back next year?

Oh man... Liriope and Hostas taking some bullying in this thread. Previous homeowners here apparently loved them. Please don't talk like that around them on the 19th.... even if they are not the prom queens of the gardening world, they still have feelings.

Oh yeah, why the hosta hate, Seq4? Obviously you haven't seen my Golden Tiara or Paul's Glory, or the one Gita gave me, or Ginkgo Craig, or Mouse Ears... OR you haven't had them thrive and show their best nature. I do have some common old varieties in places where they get kind of ragged by late summer.

Yeah, mine are getting ragged and it isn't lack of water, I know that with certainty. So yeah, they look across the yard and see other plants still thick and lush and they have a slight inferiority complex already, don't make it worse, anyone !

:)

My poor hostas have been demolished by the deer. Poor little things - no leaves left now, just pitiful bare leaf stalks.

Where you live, Terri, I'm surprised your Hostas last a week.

I know. I think I am finally resigned to replacing the long line of hostas along the front of the house with pulmonaria. Those hostas have been there for 20 years and were the first plant that I ever had any success with, so it is kind of sad to let them go. I guess I can measure the explosion of the deer population by those hostas. They were pretty much left alone until about five years ago. I still want to try to keep the few hostas I have scattered in the gardens though - I just need to be diligent about spraying them I guess.

Those Hostas are very striking along the front of the house but yes, the deer population is only going to grow so it might be time to try something else. Pulmonaria would be a good choice, I think. Silver Bouquet cultivar would be perfect but there are several other great choices too.

Talking about Hostas....I have a bunch of divisions potted up. Just ask!
They grow so nicely rounded and compact.

1--2--3---These are from last year---

4--Mouse ear Hosta from this June. before I divided it.

5--Here are the many divisions I now have. Isn't anyone really interested?
Besides Aspen and Jill?

Also--no one has mentioned the "August Lily Hosta"--which looks more like a
regular Hosta--until it blooms--in August....DAH! The blooms are gorgeous and fragrant.
Huge, rounded leaves too.

My house came with Hostas, too, but I gave them away because between the deer and the slugs, they always ended up looking ratty.
While I still had them, I found that deer (and slugs to some extent) left one type of Hosta alone - the only Hosta I bought to supplement what was already growing in the garden. It had solid-colored, bluish leaves; I'm pretty sure it was 'Blue Cadet'.

This message was edited Aug 29, 2015 7:11 PM

Gita's. number 3 above is very nice, I have them.
Also 'Francee' is very nice= blueish with thin white edge

Yeah, Muddy... I am getting ready to replace one of my large hosta's with a Oak Leaf Hydrangea, Ruby Slippers.

The other six will probably replaced soon too, just not a priority right now, expanding and creating three beds in the front yard is my focus the remainder of this season.

I promise I won't make your Hosta and Liriope feel bad; I think both can look very nice in the right setting.

My Liriope do look pretty good where they are, I gave them some nice neighbors to make them look even better and I plan to keep them. :)

Yardened at my leisure today. Potted Maypops , Ostrich fern, and Chrysogonum for swap. I decided that Bead fern needs to just get lifted right before swap and put in boxes or bags. Went Mano a Mano (Mano a glochid) with prickly pears some more, and got them down to a reasonable size and cleaned out of shriveled dried up pads. Kind of an ' Opuntia bonsai' now.. ...hm. ..planted a couple things that really shouldn't have stayed in pots this long, but, life happened. Repotted a Saneveria Moonshine, shooed away the ant colony that was in it, and and pulled and potted one little rosette from it, anyone interested?

Kind of disappointed in the tomatoes. I did my best ever job of keeping them pruned and tied and got darn few for my effort. Shade? Rain?

It's sure a lovely evening out here!

New thread for almost September
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1404534/